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Tug Operator News

19 Feb 2024

Gulf LNG Tugs to Provide Towage at Texas LNG Terminal in Brownsville

(Image: Texas LNG)

Gulf LNG Tugs of Texas has been selected to provide towage services for the Texas LNG export terminal to be constructed in the Port of Brownsville.Gulf LNG Tugs, a consortium of Suderman & Young Towing Company, Bay-Houston Towing, and Moran Towing Corporation, will build, deliver and operate tugboats under a long term agreement to assist LNG carriers arriving at the facility.Texas LNG will be a 4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal owned and managed by Glenfarne Energy Transition.

22 Sep 2022

Glosten, ABB Debut Methanol-Hybrid Tug Design

Image courtesy Glosten

Glosten and ABB have teamed to develop a methanol-hybrid ship assist tug design. The "SA-100" is a 100-ft. ASD harbor tug—designed to measure under 100 grt—is propelled by two methanol compatible CAT 3512E gensets powering electrically driven L-drives. The gensets are complemented by battery banks for zero-emission operation when transiting, peak shaving during general operation, and as boost for achieving the tug’s peak bollard pull of 90 short tons.“We had three primary design objectives in developing this tug—all intended to benefit the owner/operator…

05 Apr 2022

Rolls-Royce Unveils New Automation Systems With Sea Machines Tech

(Image: Rolls-Royce)

Rolls-Royce is expanding its range of mtu NautIQ ship automation systems with three new products offering different levels of intelligent crew support, autonomous control and remote command capabilities.The new products—mtu NautIQ CoPilot, mtu NautIQ CoOperate and mtu NautIQ CoDirect—are the next step in the cooperation between Rolls-Royce and autonomous control and remote-vessel command systems developer Sea Machines Robotics, which was first announced in September 2021.The most advanced intelligent pilot assist system of the new product range…

03 Nov 2021

Wilson Sons Ramping Up to Support O&G Ops

(Photo: Wilson Sons)

Eying recent demand increases and oil prices recovery in the international market, Brazil's largest tug operator says it is ramping up to support a growing number of offshore oil and gas projects expected to take off in the coming years.Globally, around 30 production floater contracts are now queued up for award over the next 18 months, assuming no major market disruption occurs and the supply chain can absorb the orders within this time frame, according to an in-depth market analysis recently completed by International Maritime Associates/World Energy Reports.Wilson Sons…

03 Sep 2021

Subchapter M: Is it Time to Press Pause?

(Photo: Pat Folan)

For many, the path to Subchapter M compliance has been anything but smooth sailing. And while progress has been made through the growing pains, some feel it’s time for the U.S. Coast Guard to pump the brakes.A funny thing happened on the way to compliance. We all learned that nobody was quite ready for Subchapter M.Sure, we had gone through the law with a fine-toothed combed and had self-inspected vessels and trained crews, but we were all surprised by interpretations.Third party organizations (TPO) have done their best to set up systems and satisfy paying customers and the U.S.

16 Aug 2021

Marine Autonomy: The Future is Being Revealed

Foss ASD 90 class tractor tug (Photo: Foss Maritime)

Automation, where routine tasks are handled by machines, has been talked about throughout maritime sectors for much of the 21st Century. Initially touted by suppliers of engine room and bridge management systems for its cost savings (with reduced manning levels), its value proposition was then infused with risk management (reduced human error) and remote operations, where vessels could be managed from a shoreside control room. In early 2017, Rolls Royce —an early proponent of unmanned operations—teamed with tug operator Svitzer on a remotely operated vessel…

29 Jan 2021

SAAM Acquires 70% of Intertug

(Image: SAAM)

Port, logistics and towage services provider SAAM announced on Friday that it has finalized a $49.7 million deal to purchase 70% of post-capitalization shares of Intertug, enabling SAAm to begin towage operations in Colombia and expand its operations in the Mexican and Central American markets where Intertug has an established a presence.SAAM’s CEO, Marcario Valdés, said,  â€œWith this deal, we improve our standing as the top tug operator in the Americas. It is consistent with our strategy of being leaders in the consolidation process that the industry is experiencing.

26 Jan 2021

Tug Malta Takes Delivery of New Tug from Damen

(Photo: Damen)

Maltese tug operator Tug Malta has taken delivery of Senglea, a new Damen RSD Tug 2513 to be used for maneuvering container vessels in and out of the harbor.Handed over on January 15, the newbuild joins a fleet that already has a number of Damen ASD tugs, but is the first RSD tug to operate in the region.Tug Malta, owned by Rimorchiatori Mediterranei Spa, ordered the vessel in November 2019. Built at Damen’s Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam, she has a bollard pull of 80 tonnes. The design features Damen’s Twin Fin skeg to enhance directional stability and provide higher indirect towing force.

17 Nov 2020

Svitzer Inks Global Services Deal with Caterpillar Marine

(Photo: Caterpillar Marine)

Engines manufacturer Caterpillar announced Tuesday it has signed a global services agreement with the the world’s largest tug operator, Svitzer, covering more than 100 vessels powered by Cat Marine engines in 30-plus countries. A focused Caterpillar team working with the global Caterpillar dealer network will execute the terms of the contract, which is designed to increase vessel uptime, drive service efficiency and extend Svitzer’s overall service experience.With towage operations serving 34 terminals and 120 ports in the Americas…

17 Nov 2020

Wilson Sons: Inside Brazil’s Workboat Goliath

Photo: Wilson Sons

Wilson Sons is the largest integrated port and maritime logistics operator in Brazil, operating more than 80 workboats. Marcio Castro, Executive Director Tugboat Division, discusses with Maritime Reporter the size, shape & technical direction of the fleet.Mr. Castro, to start, how did you come to a career in maritime?I graduated in System Engineering at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), I also have an MBA in Business Administration (Coppead/UFRJ). I joined Wilson Sons in 2003…

17 Aug 2020

MAIB Publishes Report on Thea II Grounding

(Photo: MAIB)

The U.K.'s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued its report on the investigation of the December 2018 grounding and recovery of the container feeder vessel Thea II and the tug Svitzer Josephine in the approaches to the Humber Estuary.The vessels ran aground in storm force conditions on the evening of December 15, 2018, while the tug was towing the container feeder ship after the latter suffered an engine failure while approaching the Humber pilot station.Both vessels refloated with the tide later that night…

19 Jan 2020

SAAM Acquires Intertug

Chilean logistics company SAAM has struck a deal to buy Intertug Investment Holding, a towage services company with operations in Colombia, Mexico and Honduras.SAAM will spend $54.5 million for 70% of Intertug, based on an enterprise value of $98 million, and carry out the acquisition through a capital increase and a share purchase, it said in a stock market exchange announcement.Intertug's 25-vessel fleet logs more than 18,000 maneuvers a year, generating around US$44 million in towage service revenue annually.The partnership with Intertug allows us to enter Colombia, one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America, and to reinforce our presence in Mexico and Central America…

13 Oct 2019

MOL Trials 360 Birds-Eye-View Tugboat

Japanese shipping line Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) collaborated with Oki Electric Industry (OKI), to launch a joint study on the use of OKI's bird's-eye view monitoring system to monitor a 360° field of view around a tugboat.The system was installed on the tugboat Asaka Maru and a preliminary experiment was conducted, said a press release.As a tugboat approaches a large vessel for assistance, only a small part of the vessel's hull can be seen from tug's bridge, and therefore, the tugboat relies on instructions through the radio from the pilot onboard the target vessel.The experiment was done in a situation with OKI's "FlyingView" setting four fish-eye cameras on the mast…

30 Jul 2019

KOTUG Commits to Fleet Express

RT Kuri Bay - one of the three vessels used by KOTUG to serve the Shell Prelude facility (Photo courtesy of Inmarsat)

Successful trials of Inmarsat Fleet Xpress off Western Australia have persuaded global tug operator KOTUG International to select the high-speed broadband solution for this area of the Asia Pacific region.Following trials on board the 100-ton bollard pull tug Roebuck Bay, the towage service company has confirmed that the unique Fleet Xpress combination of Ka-band, continuously backed up by FleetBroadband, has significantly enhanced both the stability of communications and available…

28 Feb 2019

Wärtsilä inks Maintenance Deal With MSCL

Copyright: MSCL

Wärtsilä signed an 5-year optimized maintenance agreement with Marine Service Company Ltd (MSCL), a Saudi Arabian tug operator, significant as it is the first ever such agreement that Wärtsilä has signed with a marine operator in Saudi Arabia. MSCL operates four terminal escort tugs operating in the port of Rabigh, and the comprehensive maintenance planning is designed to streamline the vessels’ operations. In addition to systematic service activity planning, Wärtsilä will provide maintenance budgeting…

21 Feb 2019

Round the Clock Business Demands Seamless Comms

Network Innovations and its inland waterways connectivity solution eliminates “dead spot” coverage woes. And, not a moment too soon.The bane of inland operators – or at least one of many – has always been the dearth of reliable and economical vessel-to-shore communications. Even in America’s heartland where cellular coverage is routinely billed as seamless, so-called ‘dead spots’ persist. Sometimes, this happens at the worst possible moment for an operator who has myriad far flung assets on dozens of remote inland waterways. For a long time, satellite service has not been deemed economically feasible for inland operators. Beyond that, unlike blue water deep sea operators, there was little need to download data or employ software solutions in every day operations.

11 Jun 2018

Fuels, Lubricants & Green Marine

The MT Seriana on the Bosporus: severe corrosion problems were solved with Chevron’s Special HT Ultra 140 BN cylinder oil. (Photo: Chevron)

International Maritime Organization (IMO) fuel rules entering force in 2020 mandate a drastic sulfur reduction. By 2050 the mandate is to cut greenhouse gas emissions of shipping by at least 50 percent.Marine fuels, lubricants and additives manufacturers play their part in establishing maritime’s green credentials by introducing new environmentally acceptable technologies and products.The shipping industry is more than ever portrayed in a bad light due to increasing awareness of its contribution to global climate change, according to Dirk Kronmeijer, CEO of GoodFuels Marine.

04 Dec 2017

WFW Advises Italian Shipowners on Partnership with Gigilinis

International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised three leading Italian shipowners -Rimorchiatori Mediterranei, Gesmar and Fratelli Neri – on their partnership agreement with Thessaloniki-based Greek maritime operator Gigilinis Shipping Group. The deal closed on 29 November. The deal represents a strategic milestone in Italian ship owners’ expansion into the Greek and broader Eastern Mediterranean markets, most notably into the key port of Thessaloniki. Rimorchiatori Mediterranei is the leading player in the harbour towage sector in Italy, and number two in the Mediterranean, operating a modern fleet of more than 100 tugs and other units, equipped with advanced technology. In 2016 it generated revenues of around €110m.

29 Nov 2017

A New Breed of Tug

(Photo: Gondan)

When markets expand niches are created, goes the logic. For builders of tugs, that market is “floating gas” and the expanding use of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as a fuel. In support of LNG, there’ll be more oceangoing tug duty — the new floating storage and regasification units, or FSRUs, mean busier LNG carriers, and LNG cargo owners have an interest in tug escorts that share their “carbon footprint”. Still, new emissions rules offer ways to keep using refinery products, and the work of master tug designers suggests the new breeds of tugs are about more than fuel.

29 Aug 2017

Trelleborg Suite Supplied to Prelude FLNG

Prelude FLNG (Photo: Trelleborg)

Trelleborg’s marine systems operation has supplied a suite of products to Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility, the largest offshore facility ever constructed. Prelude, which is 488 meters long, 74 meters wide, and made with more than 260,000 tons of steel, will extract and liquefy natural gas from a site in North West Australia. Trelleborg supplied its gas transfer technology and SafePilot navigational and piloting systems for Prelude. “Our SafePilot solution, SSL, ESL and radio ESD for tandem condensate offload have been used on Shell’s Prelude FLNG…

23 Aug 2017

UK Tug Operator Extends Turkish Built Fleet

(Photo: Sanmar)

By purchasing a brand new tug from Sanmar Shipyards, U.K. operator SMS Towage has taken delivery of its seventh ASD tug built by the Turkish tug builder. The new tug is named Superman, continuing an established pattern – the previous six Sanmar built tugs in the SMS fleet are called Statesman, Scotsman, Yorkshireman, Masterman, Englishman and Merchantman. The new tug is of the Sanmar exclusive Robert Allan Ltd RAmparts 2400 SX design, designated by the builder as the Bogacay series.

18 Jul 2017

Crew Transfer Vessel Delivered to Targe Towing

(Photo: Mainstay Marine)

Welsh workboat builder Mainstay Marine said it has delivered a newly built 15-meter crew transfer vessel to Scottish tug operator and owner Targe Towing. The Camarc designed vessel is constructed with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. It sails at speeds in excess of 15 knots and has a bollard pull of 6 metric tons. Compliment is for two crew and 12 passengers. Targe Towing provides dedicated towage for north east Scotland ports including BP’s Hound Point Marine terminal on the Firth of Forth.

23 Jun 2017

Two New Tugs for Rimorchiatori Riuniti

Damen ASD Tug 2411 Columbia (Photo: Damen)

Italian tug operator Rimorchiatori Riuniti has continued its fleet expansion with the deliveries of two new Damen tugs; an ASD 2913 called Danimarca and an ASD 2411 called Columbia. The delivery of the Danimarca took place in Genoa on June 14, 2017. This new tug will join the ASD 2913 Germania that joined the company’s fleet at the beginning of the year. Like her sister vessel, the Danimarca has also been installed with FiFi 1 and an aft winch, in addition to oil recovery and escort capabilities.

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